Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk on Wednesday became the first person with a net worth of nearly $500 billion, driven by a rebound in the electric vehicle company’s shares and rising valuations of his other start-ups this year.
His personal fortune was worth $499.1 billion at 10.41am UAE time on Thursday, after hitting $500.1 billion at 12.15am, according to Forbes’ billionaires index.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison is the second-richest person on Forbes’ list, with a net worth of about $350.7 billion as of Thursday. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg is third, with a personal fortune estimated at $245.8 billion.
However, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Mr Musk’s net worth as $470 billion.
He is set for an unprecedented $1 trillion pay package if he can drive Tesla towards a valuation of $8.6 trillion within the next decade, according to the pay-for-performance plan revealed by Tesla last month.
Mr Musk’s fortunes are tied to Tesla, where he holds a more than 12.4 per cent stake.
He has long sought more voting power within Tesla. Mr Musk will be granted this if he achieves Tesla's goals, raising his 13 per cent voting stake to give him more say on governance and key corporate issues.
In early August, Tesla had approved an interim stock award worth about $30 billion to Mr Musk. The move came after a compensation package valued in excess of $50 billion was ruled as void by the Delaware Chancery Court after a shareholder lawsuit.
Mr Musk has served as the car maker’s senior executive since 2008. He told Bloomberg in an interview in May that he was committed to still being there in five years.
The company’s stock has risen more than 14 per cent this year and closed 3.3 per cent higher on Wednesday, adding more than $6 billion to Mr Musk's net worth.
After a rough start to the year, Tesla shares have performed well as investor sentiment improved when Mr Musk focused on his companies after several months at the White House.
His decision to bankroll US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and lead the Department of Government Efficiency's effort to remake the federal government resulted a backlash against Tesla.
Poor sales have also hurt Tesla stock, making it one of the worst performers in the Magnificent Seven group of megacap tech stocks.
Mr Musk has pushed his interests outside EVs, particularly in robotics and the booming artificial intelligence industry.
Valuations for his AI start-up xAI and rocket company SpaceX have also risen this year.
xAI has been going toe-to-toe with generative AI companies including Google, Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The start-up had a valuation of $75 billion as of July, according to data from Pitchbook.
SpaceX was discussing plans to raise money and sell insider shares in a deal valuing the company at around $400 billion, Bloomberg reported in July.
